cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Ca'lub Holloway /Sam Houston

Ca'lub Holloway

LB · Sam Houston · Jr · #42

Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.

29 TACKLES · 0.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Sam Houston for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Sam Houston for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Sam Houston

Returning around him

  • 90% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • Transfer portal: +5 net (20 in / 15 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Sam Houston · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #123 · 2026 recruiting class #122

LB · SAM HOUSTON · CONFERENCE USA

Ca'lub Holloway

  • 3
  • #42
  • 6-2 | 240 lb
  • Fort Worth, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

57

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 92nd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#11201

<1% win probability

Fan Belief

Awaiting

Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.

Respect Gap

Awaiting

Coming online with player-level FI.

Reality Gap

Awaiting

Coming online with player-level FI.

ACCOLADE PROBABILITY

Heisman

<1%

TOP LB AWARD

Butkus

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R02 · Deep reserve

Deep reserve. In the program, working up the two-deep.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Sam Houston
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.

PositionLB
Class3
Jersey42
Measurements6-2 | 240 lb
HometownFort Worth, TX
Primary teamSam Houston

Recruiting Pedigree

How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 0 No portal entry on file
Latest destination -- --
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility -- Transfer date TBD
Season Move Context
No transfer portal moves on file for this player.

Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final

Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.

HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16
Current nowcast#11201Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#11007Where the full season sim points
Win probability0.0%Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability0.0%Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability0.0%Chance to appear anywhere on a ballot
Best official finish--Best completed Heisman placement on file

Heisman Futures

Not yet listed on major futures markets.

No achievements unlocked yet this season.

Selector Grid · 2025

AP
FWAA
AFCA
WCFF
SN
SI

Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.

Today’s Hot-Take

The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.

Anti-Take

PENDING

The contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.

The Room on Ca'lub Holloway

Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal

The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.

Cohort divergence map

Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Ca'lub Holloway

No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.

Signature Story

Awaiting candidate metric

He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.

Signature Moment

No signature moment on the ledger yet.

Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.

A 3-act season arc returns once this player has six or more games on the ledger.

Season Pace · Projection

Where the defensive totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 8g
29Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0.5Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
47Tackles
1.6Tackles for loss
0.8Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 29): needs 10.2/game over remaining 5.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 29): needs 14.2/game over remaining 5.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0.5): needs 1.1/game over remaining 5.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0.5): needs 1.9/game over remaining 5.

Why this is a rare defensive case

The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.

Ca'lub Holloway is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Sam Houston's defense, with 0.5 sacks, 1.0 tackles for loss, and -- interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.

Current place #11201 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.5 sacks | 1.0 TFL

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

DEF season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Total tackles 29 21 solo | #1415/4942 (71st pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th pct)
Sacks 0.5 Pass-rush finish | #1501/4972 (70th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
29 71st
SOLO
21 79th
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.5 70th
QBH
5 90th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 2L 20-37@ Hawai'i220.00.00
Wk 4L 0-55@ Texas200.50.00
Wk 7L 27-29vs Jacksonville State110.00.00
Wk 8L 17-35vs UTEP110.00.00
Wk 11W 21-17@ Oregon State960.00.01Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 12W 26-23vs Delaware740.50.51
Wk 13L 17-31@ Middle Tennessee440.00.00
Wk 14L 16-56vs Florida International330.00.00
Total29211.00.52
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score

Traditional history

Traditional Stats

Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.

Season rows Career row

Season context · Team result + system

2023Sam Houston3-9HC: K.C. Keeler · Balanced
2025Sam Houston2-10HC: Phil Longo · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Sam Houston29211.00.52----
2023Sam Houston431.00.0------
Career2 loaded seasons33242.00.52----
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Disruption stats

TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.

Coverage splash

Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.

Peer percentile

Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.

Traditional first

The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.

INT -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th pct)
QB pressures 5 Quarterback hurries | #188/1878 (90th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 29 #1415/4942 71st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.5 #1501/4972 70th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 5 #188/1878 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 21 #959/4584 79th pct Volumevs FBS DEF

Player Standing

Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.

AWAITING CLASSIFICATION

On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex

AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16

Why he’s here

Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.

What moves him up

What moves him down

Accolade streams

StatusAwaiting tracker

The Butkus award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home4g3.00.10.10.2
Road4g4.20.10.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins2g8.00.20.21.0
Losses6g2.20.10.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-73g1.70.20.00.0
Weeks 8+5g4.80.10.10.4

Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

57Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (92nd). Concern: tackles for loss (28th).

QB hurries#188 / 2975 · 92nd pct
5defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Solo tackles#959 / 2975 · 67th pct
21defe
Tackles#1415 / 2975 · 52nd pct
29defe
Sacks#1367 / 2975 · 51st pct
0.5defe
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Advanced Savant · LB · 2024

Percentile Card

Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.

P4G5All FBS
EPA / dropback
awaiting
CPOE
awaiting
Success rate
awaiting
Explosive rate (20+)
awaiting
aDOT
awaiting
Deep-ball accuracy
awaiting
Pressure-to-sack
awaiting
3rd-down EPA
awaiting
Red-zone TD rate
awaiting
Play-action EPA
awaiting
Scramble EPA
awaiting
Turnover-worthy play rate
awaiting

Advanced Savant

Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.

Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 6 metrics
Ca'lub HollowaySam HoustonBlake FletcherAir Force· 75% simAndon ThomasArmy· 68% simTrey FieldsNorth Texas· 67% sim
QB hurries
92
Holloway
92
Fletcher
82
Thomas
95
Fields
Passes defended
67
Holloway
67
Fletcher
91
Thomas
67
Fields
Solo tackles
67
Holloway
91
Fletcher
100
Thomas
96
Fields
Tackles
52
Holloway
99
Fletcher
99
Thomas
98
Fields
Sacks
51
Holloway
24
Fletcher
51
Thomas
63
Fields
Tackles for loss
28
Holloway
28
Fletcher
73
Thomas
87
Fields

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.

Player DNA

The Coverage 'Backer

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to O.C. Brothers’s 2022 season.

O.C. Brothers

85%match

Purdue · 2022

#2

Tackett Curtis

Wisconsin · 2024

77%
#3

Cam Dillon

Duke · 2023

76%
#4

Tysyn Parker

San José State · 2021

75%
#5

Jordan Kwiatkowski

Central Michigan · 2023

74%

Matches O.C. on

Tackle volume
Weight
Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Tackett Curtis's junior season at Wisconsin (2025).

Tackett Curtis

86%match

Wisconsin · 2025

#2

Austin Harnetiaux

Nevada · 2025

84%
#3

Tano Letuli

San Diego State · 2025

83%
#4

Tyree Blake

Oregon State · 2025

83%
#5

Dillon Springer

Georgia Southern · 2022

80%

Matches Tackett on

TFL rate
Weight
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Phil Longo

Pass share

51.3%

388 pass / 368 run

Plays / game

63.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

11.1%

324 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

2 coaches
2023
K.C. Keeler
Sam Houston
2025
Phil Longo
Sam Houston
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: K.C. Keeler → Phil Longo. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.

HometownFort Worth, TX
Height6'2"
Weight240 lb
Class3
PositionLB
Jersey42

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

Honors

No formal honors on the ledger yet

All-America, all-conference, player-of-the-week, watch-list, and postseason awards land here when they're earned. The absence is the signal: most players never collect formal honors, and that's its own kind of context.

Honors Timeline

Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.

Season Honor Scope Team / Selector Context
No formal honors on the ledger yet. All-America, all-conference, weekly awards, watch lists, and postseason trophies land here when they’re earned.

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Sam Houston LB3 #11201 #11007 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Conference USA
2023 Sam Houston LB3 #13832 #13887 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Sam Houston Conference USA LB 3 No. 42 | 6-2 | 240 lb | Fort Worth, TX
2024 Sam Houston Conference USA LB 3 No. 42 | 6-2 | 240 lb | Fort Worth, TX
2023 Sam Houston Conference USA LB 3 No. 42 | 6-2 | 240 lb | Fort Worth, TX